


Seventh Year Drabbles

by Dragons_Heart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Durmstrang!Levi, Eren and Levi bond over Quidditch, F/M, Gen, Gryffindor!Eren, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, M/M, Quidditch, Ravenclaw!Levi, Secret Santa, Student! Eren, professor! Levi, secret santa gift
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 00:17:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2831207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragons_Heart/pseuds/Dragons_Heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren's seventh year at Hogwarts told in drabbles. Levi, a world famous Quidditch player and Mikasa's cousin, takes the position of Charms professor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to do the EreRi Secret Santa exchange this year and this drabble set (because it got way to long to be a one-shot, someone shoot me for that) is for Tumblr user erinyanko, who requested a Hogwarts AU with Eren as a student and Levi as a professor. Hopefully you like it, deary, since it sort of turned into a lot of Quidditch and less class time.

The day Eren received his Hogwarts letter was the most exciting day of his eleven year old life. The second was when the Sorting Hat barely touched his hair before it put him in Gryffindor. And now, here he was, sitting on the Hogwarts Express on his way to his seventh and final year at the magical school. If he was sure about anything right now, it was that he didn’t want to leave his favorite place in the world for the last time come May.

“Eren, want a chocolate frog?” The seventeen year old looked away from the window and nodded, smiling.

“Yeah. I ran out in July.”

“Merlin’s beard, Eren,” Armin muttered, passing the package over to his best friend. The blonde may have been put in Ravenclaw, but he and Eren were just as close as they were when they were in grade school, if not closer. “I thought you bought enough to last for six months during that last trip to Hogsmeade?”

Eren grinned sheepishly. “I might have gotten carried away,” he admitted. “A bit.” He pulled the lid open and immediately grabbed the back leg of the squirming treat. He dropped the frog in his mouth and started chewing.

“I think it was more than a bit,” Mikasa said, making the green-eyed boy scowl. “You made yourself sick in the first week.”

Eren let out a snort and looked back out the window. “Whatever,” he mumbled, watching the countryside speed past them.

“So, how was your cousin’s place?” Armin asked Mikasa. Eren glanced up at that, halfway paying attention. He’d heard about his adopted sister’s trip already, but he was curious about what she’d tell Armin.

“Pretty nice,” she replied. “He lives out in the country, so there’s not nearly as much noise, but he’s still close to town, so it’s not completely secluded either. He’s also a highly skilled wizard. He taught me quite a bit that I wouldn’t learn necessarily at school.”

“Wow, that sounds amazing! Grandpa taught Eren and I how to apparate over the summer, but that’s about all we did magic wise.”

“I was taught that too. He also taught me a spell that can clean stains off silk. He’s really big into cleanliness, so he’s come up with some spells on his own to help in that area.”

“Really? He invented his own spells!?”

“Yeah, it’s not that impressive. Technically, we can all do it. The best thing though was….”

Eren turned back to the window and ignored the rest of the conversation after that. He wasn’t interested in spell invention like Armin was. He just liked the magic and the wonder that came with it. Unlike Armin and Mikasa, Eren had no magic ancestry. He was muggleborn, with a doctor for a father and a mother who ran a bake shop in a suburb of London. He wasn’t a pureblood like Mikasa, who had lived in a wizarding family until she was nine, when her parents had been killed in the Second Wizarding War. How she’d ended up in a muggle family, Eren didn’t know, nor did he care to find out. He wasn’t even half-blood like Armin. It still amazed him that Armin had managed to keep it a secret that he, his father, and his grandfather were all wizards or that he’d figured out that Eren possessed magical abilities. But the blonde was in Ravenclaw for a reason and if it wasn’t for his brains, it was a fluke.

A sharp rap on the glass of the compartment door snapped Eren’s attention away from the window. Armin and Mikasa also went quiet and the trio glanced towards who knocked. Jean Kirschstein, a pureblood Slytherin, leaned in the doorway with a smirk while Marco Bodt, a freckled muggleborn Hufflepuff that Eren had become fast friends with, stood behind him with a smile. How those two became best friends was beyond Eren, but he didn’t question it.

“Sup Armin? Jaeger,” Jean said, nodding at the two boys before smiling at Mikasa. “Hey Mikasa.”

“Jean,” she replied simply and Eren rolled his eyes. Jean’s crush on Mikasa was still overly apparent and he still couldn’t take the hint that she didn’t want to date him.

“Can we crash in here?” Marco asked, immediately dispersing the tension. “All the other compartments are full.”

“Yeah, but what about Connie and Sasha?” Armin asked.

Jean shrugged and flopped down on Eren’s side of the compartment. “In the same compartment as Reiner, Berthold, and Annie,” he said while Marco squirmed in between the two rivals. Jean and Eren may be friends, but everyone knew there was a high chance of a duel breaking out between them if they were left alone. “I wasn’t dealing with that.”

“Why not?” Jean glanced across at Eren. “Reiner’s a hoot and Berthold may be quiet, but he’s not—“

“Annie gives me the creeps.”

Armin frowned at that. “She’s not that bad,” he said. “Besides, she’s in your house.”

“Still creepy.”

Eren huffed. “Fine. But what about Ymir and Historia’s compartment?” he asked.

“I am not getting involved in that,” Jean sneered. “Not everyone likes Ymir getting pissed at them for interrupting her make-out sessions.”

“Hey, I never said—“

“Did you guys here that we’re getting a new Charms professor?” Marco said quickly.

Armin blinked. “What? No, what happened to Flitwick?”

“Retired, apparently.”

“How come I didn’t hear about this?” the blonde mumbled. “I’m in Ravenclaw and he’s our Head.”

“Maybe he wanted to go out quietly,” Mikasa suggested.

Eren sat up a bit and glanced at Marco. “So who’s becoming the Head of Ravenclaw House then?”

Marco gave a light shrug before Jean answered. “The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I think. I heard the Charms prof went to Durmstrang.”

“I thought he was a Gryffindor?” Marco said and the boy with the two-toned hair shook his head.

“Nah, that’s Professor Ral.”

“No shit, Horseface,” Eren said. “I think we’re all aware of who my Head of House is.”

“Oh, zip it Jaeger. We all know that you’re in the hot teacher’s house.”

“Don’t be a pervert! You’re just jealous ‘cause Slughorn’s still around for you snakes.”

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

“No I’m not!” Jean and Eren both reached for their wands, but Armin and Marco jumped in to hold both angry teens back.

“Jean, calm down!”

“Eren, let it go! The last thing you two need is to get detention before you even _get_ to school.”

Eren scowled, but put his wand back in his pocket. “Fine,” he muttered and Armin nodded.

“Thank you.” The blonde reached into his bag and pulled out a tin box. “Now, how about we play a game of Exploding Snap before we have to change?”

The other three boys all grinned and nodded. “I’m in!” they all yelled and slid into the floor. Mikasa just rolled her eyes at them, but got down as well.

“You’re all idiots,” she muttered, but she was smiling behind her scarf.


	2. Chapter 2

The Great Hall was alive with the sounds of talking and laughter immediately following the Sorting Ceremony. Each house had gained their fair share of first years. Actually, Eren thought the Gryffindor table was a little more crowded than usual. Not that it was a bad thing. He was really pleased with it. And Mikasa appeared to be as well, if the smile she was trying to hide was any indication.

A soft tinkling of a spoon hitting glass was heard and the hall quieted down as Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry,  stepped up to the owl-shaped podium to give the annual welcome speech. Eren looked up and his eyes scanned the teacher’s table, his gaze lingering just for a moment on the man sitting where Professor Flitwick normally did. The seventh year raised an eyebrow, not sure how the grumpy looking man in the suit-like robes and cravat got the job. He didn’t seem like a people person from a glance. Actually, Eren thought he seemed kind of familiar as well, but he couldn’t place where he’d seen him before. His gaze was broken when McGonagall began speaking.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she began, her voice and face stern, but somehow warm and welcoming at the same time.  “I trust you all had a wonderful journey here. Welcome back to all students, and an additional welcome to our first years. On behalf of all here, we hope you will consider Hogwarts as your home away from home and that you will receive the best education that our school has to offer.

“Now, all first years will have school rules and the house points system explained to them by their house prefects following the feast. But, to remind all students, dueling outside of the Dueling Club is not allowed and no magic is to be performed in the halls between classes. Also, the Black Forest is strictly forbidden to all students unless accompanied by a teacher.” Eren, along with a few other students, shifted uncomfortably at that since it seemed like her gaze was fixed on them.

“Also,” McGonagall continued. “There have been a few changes to our staff this year. First, allow me to introduce Mr. Neville Longbottom, who will be assisting Professor Sprout in the greenhouses this year.” A round of applause filled the hall as Neville stood, appearing rather shy at first. The Gryffindor table was the loudest, since many knew that Neville was a legend of the Second Wizarding War and had used the sword of Godric Gryffindor to help defeat Lord Voldemort.

The headmistress waited for the commotion to die down before resuming her speech. “Now, as I’m sure many of our older students are aware, our beloved Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw house, Filius Flitwick, has retired and is currently taking a sabbatical in France. As such, the position of Ravenclaw’s Head of House will be filled by our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Auruo Bossard.”

Eren choked on his pumpkin juice while the rest of the room filled with applause. “Seriously? Him?” he hissed at Mikasa, who just gave him a look to shut up. He huffed softly and glanced at Professor Bossard. It wasn’t that the man was a bad teacher, but he had a habit of needing the Hospital Wing for biting his tongue too hard and Eren personally thought he was rather annoying.

“And finally,” McGonagall picked up right where she’d left off, not missing a beat when the hall was quiet again. “I’d like to introduce our new Charms instructor, Professor Levi Ackerman. Please give him a warm, Hogwarts welcome.” The applause this time was more contained, and there were some whispers about how intimidating the guy was as he stood briefly before sitting back down. Eren, however, was hung up on something else entirely.

“Isn’t you’re cousin’s name Levi?” he asked Mikasa, who just shrugged and stared at her empty plate. “Mikasa, don’t shut me—“

“Shut up, Eren,” she hissed. “Drop it.”

“But—“

“Shh.”

Eren scowled and went to retort, but McGonagall started speaking again. “We are pleased to have both Professor Ackerman and Mr. Longbottom here with us this year. We would all like to wish you both, along with Professor Bossard, good luck. Now, that is all the announcements I have, so, let the feast begin!” As the headmistress headed back to her seat, the tables filled with various dishes ranging from Shepherd’s  Pie to roast beef. The first years all let out sounds of surprise and amazement and Eren snickered a bit. The green-eyed teen loaded his plate up and started eating, but it was much slower than usual. His gaze kept flicking up to the teacher’s table to gaze at the new teacher and then to Mikasa.

“Mikasa, look, is he—“

“Mikasa!” Sasha Braus, a Gryffindor girl in their year who had the stomach of a giant, flopped down in the seat next to the Asian girl and grabbed her shoulders. “You are never going to believe what happened over the summer!”

Mikasa let out a sigh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, what happened?”

Sasha grinned and ripped a chunk off a chicken leg with her teeth. “Cobbie affed be oub!”

“Sasha, don’t talk with your mouth full. No one can understand you that way.”

The brunette swallowed and blushed. “Sorry! I said, Connie asked me out! Isn’t that great?!”

Mikasa blinked before sending the girl a small smile. “That’s wonderful Sasha. I’m happy for you two.”

“Yeah, congratulations!” Eren said, sending her a high five, which Sasha happily returned. “You two are great together!”

“Thanks Eren!” she chirped and grinned. Sasha was one of the happiest people that Eren had ever met. She never let anything get her down and even the littlest things would put her on top of the world. Eren couldn’t imagine what Connie finally asking her out on a date did to her joy levels. Plus, despite her over-eating habits and sometimes childlike behavior, Sasha was a highly skilled witch and Eren found himself admiring her skills.

“So, where did he take you?” Mikasa asked and Sasha practically squealed.

“Oh, it was beautiful Mikasa!” she said before she started gushing about the day they’d spent in a wizard community near Manchester. Eren smiled and unconsciously tuned out of the conversation, looking once again at the raven-haired professor. His eyebrows furrowed a bit, trying to put some pieces together. Just who was Professor Levi Ackerman?


	3. Chapter 3

“So, he is your cousin, right?”

“Eren, I already told you. Yes, he is. Now please let it drop.”

“But why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I didn’t know. He only told me he was starting a new job, not that he was teaching at my school.”

“Eren, come on, it’s not her fault,” Armin said as they paused on the landing, waiting for the staircase to rotate around.

“She still could’ve said something, ya know, when she saw him last night _sitting in Flitwick’s chair_.”

“I didn’t want to draw attention to it,” Mikasa mumbled and fiddled with the fringe on her scarf. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Not a big deal! Mikasa, your cousin is our freakin’ teacher! How is that not a big deal?”

Armin glanced over at Eren. “Some way when our friends in grade school had parents as our teachers or the fact that your dad is my doctor,” he said. “You’re just overreacting.”

Eren let out a huff and crossed his arms. “Whatever,” he muttered. “If it’s not a big deal, then why are we going to Charms class half an hour early?”

“I wanted to introduce you two to him,” Mikasa explained and stepped onto the first stair when they grinded to a stop on the landing. “I was going to invite him down for Christmas, if it was ok with Grisha and Carla, and have him meet you then. But this works out a bit easier. And this way, you might be able to get on his good side.”

“How bad is his bad side?” Armin asked, swallowing a bit nervously. “Because it sounds like it’s out a lot.”

“No, it’s not. He’s just…..well, you’ll see. But I will warn you, he’s very blunt.”

“Blunter than Eren?”

“Armin!”

“Yes. Blunter than Eren.”

“You guys suck,” Eren snarled and the pair just laughed at him.

As they ascended the stairs, their conversation turned to other things, mainly their stresses about N.E.W.T.S. and the bitter sweetness that was going to be the majority of the year. Eren expressed concern over the amount of courses Armin was taking, who brushed him off as he always did. They talked about Quidditch and when tryouts would be; Eren already played as a Beater and Mikasa was considering trying out this year for the Chaser position. She had the swiftness and agility on a broom that Eren didn’t for the position, but the brunette had the speed and reaction time necessary for a Beater. And he had a heck of a swing.

The trio entered the Charms classroom and Eren frowned when he saw it was empty. “He isn’t here yet?” he asked.

“He will be soon,” Mikasa said and went to put her things down. “I told him we were coming early, so calm down.”

“I am calm,” Eren muttered, dropping his bag into his usual chair beside Mikasa’s while Armin did the same on his other side. “So, is Horseface’s theory right? Did your cousin really go to Durmstrang? Does he have an accent? Is he from Bulgaria? What about—“

“Eren, breathe!” Armin said, laughing as he clapped his hand over his friend’s mouth. “One question at a time.”

Mikasa sighed. “He’s fine. You’re like a cat, Eren,” she said, making the boy scowl at her. “Yes, he technically went to Durmstrang, but he did two years here before his family moved. He’s a Ravenclaw--“ Armin let out a whoop at that, but Mikasa ignored him. “—so no, he’s not Bulgarian. He does have a slight accent, but it’ll change between Bulgarian-British and French-British.”

“He’s French?”

“His mother was.”

“Are you talking about me behind my back, Mikasa?” Eren  and Armin both jumped at the deep voice that came from the doorway. Levi Ackerman shut the door behind him and walked towards the desk at the front, wearing a short, emerald green cloak over his robes.

“Not at all, Levi. I would never do such a thing,” Mikasa said and led Eren and Armin away from the chairs towards her cousin. “I was just telling them some things to expect with you.”

“Tch. They couldn’t figure it out for themselves?” the man asked. Now that he was closer, Eren noticed that he had an undercut and was actually rather short; about an inch shorter than Armin, it looked like. But then he noticed the back of Levi’s cloak was emblazoned with blue and white wings overlapping each other on top of a silvery shield.

“Holy shit!” The other three paused and looked over at Eren, who was staring, star struck, at Levi as he removed his cloak. “You’re Levi! _The_ Levi! You’re the Seeker for the Sunderland Scouts! Four time champion of the European Cup, two time World Cup finalist and winner of this year’s Cup with France!”

Armin groaned softly and smacked his hand against his forehead with a “Seriously, Eren?” muttered under his breath while Mikasa’s expression was a mix of disbelief, horror, and the need to slap him stupid. Levi’s expression didn’t change, but he was quiet for a moment. He looked Eren over before giving a soft “tch.”

“You’re really an observant one, aren’t you?” he sneered. “What gave it away? The symbol or my height?”

“It was the Wings of Freedom,” Mikasa answered for Eren. “Eren only catches games on the radio. He only saw you play a couple years ago in the World Cup. But he is a large Scouts fan.”

“H-Hey! Mikasa!” Eren protested, a sharp blush rising to the apples of his cheeks as he came down from his high on Fan-Boy Mountain. Great, he was meeting his idol, professor, and Mikasa’s cousin for the first time and he was making himself look like an idiot with a celebrity crush. Which he technically was, but still, this guy _really_ didn’t need to be aware of that. Too late now though.

“Like I give a shit,” Levi said. ”As long as he doesn’t beg me for autographs and follow me around like a lost puppy. Got that, brat?”

Eren blinked before nodding quickly. “O-Of course!” he said. “I promise!”

 Levi snorted in affirmation before looking to Armin. “I’m assuming you’re Armin,” he said and the blond nodded once.

“Yes, sir. It’s nice to meet you. Mikasa’s told me quite a bit about you,” he said and rubbed the back of his head. “Except the Quidditch bit. That’s Eren’s thing, not mine.”

Levi shrugged and glanced at Eren. “You play?”

The brunette blinked before nodding once. “Uh, yes, sir,” he said. “I’m a Beater for Gryffindor.”

One of the older man’s eyebrow’s rose at that. “Really? You’ve got more of a Seeker’s build.”

“Well, the position was already filled when I first tried out,” Eren admitted. “I’ve thought about trying it before, but I’m already a pretty decent Beater.”

“And you never considered trying out in later years for it?”

“The position has always been filled up until this year. Our old Seeker graduated last year.”

“Are you going for it this year?”

“I….uh….” Eren was honestly a little stunned by the professor’s bluntness in the questions. “I hadn’t really thought much about it yet. I don’t even know when tryouts are for this year yet.”

Levi ran his eyes over the green-eyed teenager, crossing his arms across his chest. While he was doing so, students started to file in for class and the raven haired professor let out a soft sound of annoyance. “Take your seats,” he ordered. “Jaeger, stay after.”

“But—“

“Come on, Eren,” Mikasa said, tugging the brunette away and back to their seats with Armin following. Mikasa practically shoved Eren in his seat before sitting down herself.

“What’d I do to piss him off already?” Eren asked, only to have Mikasa shush him when Sasha, Connie, and Reiner came over. Sasha, of course, still had a piece of toast in her hand that she’d probably snuck out of the Great Hall from breakfast. She shoved it in her mouth and flopped down Mikasa with Connie on her other side while Reiner sat beside Armin.

“Morning,” the brawny blonde said. “So, any idea how the new professor’s going to be? Or did you get a chance to meet him? You guys left awfully early for class.”

“Well, we did meet him,” Armin said and glanced at Eren. “But—“

“Alright, brats, shut up and sit down,” Levi barked over the chatter of the room. “We only have an hour in here, so we’re getting straight down to business. For those who haven’t figured out who I am, my name’s Levi Ackerman. Yes, I played for the Sunderland Scouts. No, I’m not playing this season, in case that wasn’t obvious enough. And no, you can’t have an autograph. The only way you’ll get that is if I give one of you little shits detention. Are there any questions before we actually start?”

“Um…..Professor Ackerman?” a student on the other side of the room said, raising her hand. Her name was Ilse Lagner and Eren didn’t know her well, but he knew of her. She was a quiet girl, but was very intelligent and had done independent studies under Professor Hanji Zoe, the Muggle Studies teacher. “Is it true what the rumors say? Did you really go to Durmstrang? Can you tell us what it’s like over there?”

“Yes I went to Durmstrang. No, I’m not. You wanna learn about Durmstrang, look it up in a book,” Levi said. “Now, if that’s it, we’ll get started.” When no one else raised their hands, he immediately jumped into the lesson. “Now, one of the big topics on your N.E.W.T. exams is defensive charms. Specifically charms to defend an area from various curses and Muggle detection. You’re already familiar with some of them since Hogwarts is protected by anti-Muggle charms.”

The lesson went rather quickly from there, the only other sound besides Levi’s voice being the scratching of quills. Eren tried his best to pay attention, but he spent most of the class worrying over what he’d done to piss Levi off so much that he had to stay after class. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything about Quidditch. That was the only thing he could think of that could have given the guy a bad impression.

When the end of the period hit, the class rose and grabbed their things. Eren looked nervously at Armin and Mikasa, who both just offered him reassuring smiles, though Armin’s was definitely more worried than Mikasa’s, before they left the room, leaving the green-eyed teen with the stoic and blunt professor. He swallowed nervously before walking down to Levi’s desk, his bag slung over his shoulder. “You wanted to see me, Professor?”

Levi looked up and nodded, crossing his arms. “Do you want to play Seeker or not?”

“I….well, I guess,” Eren admitted. “I’d like to give it a shot at least, but I’m probably not that great at it.”

“Why not?”

Eren blinked and bit his lip gently. “Um…..I’m not that agile on a broom. That’s why I’m not a Chaser.”

“That can be adjusted with grip,” Levi retorted. “Got a better excuse?”

“Erm….the ball’s small?”

“And clearly, so are yours.”

“Hey!”

Levi snorted and flicked his wand, making the lesson plans for the next class settle neatly on the desk. “If you want to try out for the Seeker position, meet me on the Quidditch pitch Wednesday night after dinner. We’ll find out then if you’re as shitty at the position as you think you are.”

“Why do you want to see me try?”

“Because I want to know how much effort it’ll take to get you into good enough shape to make a decent Seeker.”

Eren’s jaw dropped and it took him a while to regain his composure. “Wait, back up a second,” he said. “You….You’re going to train me?”

“That’s what I said. Pay attention, brat. I don’t like repeating myself.”

“But _why?”_

Levi shrugged and offered him a slight smirk. “Mikasa likes you. You can’t be too much of a bastard for that to happen.” He picked up his lesson plans and started flipping through them. “Now scram before you’re late for your next class. I’m not dealing with a shit storm for making you late.”

Eren nodded quickly. “Yes sir! Thank you sir!” he chirped before sprinting out of the room, a wide grin spread across his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Wednesday came rather quickly. Eren hadn’t said anything to Mikasa or Armin about Levi’s offer. He didn’t want to say anything to them just yet. It was still a strong possibility that Levi would see that Eren was truly terrible, dub him as a lost cause, and call this whole thing off. He was struggling to contain his excitement and nerves about the possibility of his Quidditch idol actually training him. In Ancient Runes, the one class he had that Mikasa didn’t since old texts and languages weren’t really her thing, he let his emotions out just a bit and bounced a bit in his seat, earning an elbow to the ribs from Marco when he started accidentally shaking their table. When dinner rolled around though, Mikasa decided to bust his nervous bubble.

“What’s up with you today?” she asked and Eren glanced at her, strings of marinara covered spaghetti noodles hanging from his mouth. He slurped them up and swallowed.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh come on. You’ve been jittery all day. You nearly ruined your Sleeping Draught in Potions because you knocked your newt figs into the cauldron. You’re lucky you know how to compensate other ingredients to make something work. So what’s up?”

Eren rolled his eyes at that. “Nothing. I’m fine. Just got a lot of energy today,” he said. “Probably all the French Toast I ate this morning.”

“And now? You’re knee’s bouncing.”

“I had part of a Sugar Quill before dinner. Sue me,” he retorted. Mikasa just sighed and shook her head.

“You’re going to die of diabetes, I swear,” she muttered and Eren internally sighed, glad she bought it. Sometimes he could lie to her, other times not. Time to be grateful he didn’t handle his sugar well. He took a couple more bites of his food before standing. “Hey, where are you going?”

“To walk off this high,” he said. “Last time I stayed in the Common Room, I ruined a first year’s essay. I’d rather not make another kid cry.”

“Fine. Just be back by curfew,” Mikasa said and waved him away. “If you aren’t, I’m coming to hunt you down.”

“Don’t worry so much. I’ll be back before then.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of the Great Hall. Once the doors closed, he broke into a run and sprinted for the Quidditch pitch. He’d put his broom, a third generation Firebolt that his parents had gotten him for his seventeenth birthday, in the Gryffindor changing room during a free period so he wouldn’t raise questions when he carried it outside. Not that anyone would care, but he didn’t want to make Mikasa suspicious. He grabbed the brooms handle and jogged out to the pitch. It didn’t look like Levi was here yet, so Eren decided to do a few laps around the pitch to warm up.

On his third lap, the sun was starting to set, the mountains surrounding the castle making it grow darker faster here than back at his home in London. Fireflies were starting to surface and Eren zoomed around them, occasionally reaching out to snag one, only to let it go moments later. He laughed a bit as he flew, even rolling at one point so he was hanging upside down with just his legs supporting him. He caught a firefly upside down before rolling upright again. He opened his hand and smiled at the glowing bug before it flew away again. He sat on his broom, just hovering for a moment to enjoy being able to fly again. Eren was a free spirit, and flying was the most free feeling in the world.

“It’s a nice night out.” Eren jumped and wobbled on his broom a bit, steadying himself before looking over at Levi. The man was hovering next to him on his own broom looking up at the stars, his emerald Scouts cloak billowing behind him in the soft breeze.

“Yeah, it is,” the teenager said. He bit his lip and swallowed slightly. “Um….how long have you been here?”

“If you mean up here, since I spoke,” he said. “In the pitch….long enough to notice those last few catches. You aren’t bad, brat.”

Eren blushed hard at that and studied a knot on his broom handle. “Those are just fireflies,” he muttered. “They aren’t as fast as the Snitch.”

“The Snitch is bigger,” Levi retorted. “So let’s see what you can do with it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden ball. It sat in his hand for a moment before fluttering it’s wings open and Levi pinched it so it wouldn’t fly off just yet.

“Did you nick that from Madame Hooch?” Eren asked.

“Tch. No, I’m not a thief. It’s mine.” Levi then released the ball, watching it zoom off. “Now fetch, Jaeger.”

* * *

 

Levi had Eren chasing the Snitch for a couple of hours before he called it a night. Eren returned his broom to the changing rooms before rejoining his teacher to walk back to the castle.

“I have to say, Jaeger, you’re a decent Seeker,” he said. “With a little training, you could be a great one.”

Eren blinked before grinning. “You serious?”

“I don’t joke about Quidditch.”

“That’s….That’s a big compliment, coming from you,” Eren replied. “Thank you Professor Ackerman.”

“Levi,” the short man corrected. “Call me Levi when I’m coaching you. Most people do anyway. I don’t care for my last name that much, but I’m required to use it here.”

“What’s wrong with Ackerman?”

“Nothing. Let’s just say me and my father didn’t get along too well,” he said. They reached the castle doors and Levi turned to look at Eren. “We’ll train Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays after dinner until your tryouts. We’ll start at 7:30 sharp so do not be late. Just like with class, I’m not going to deal with your tardy ass.”

“Yes si—Levi,” Eren said. “I’ll make sure to be on time.”

“Good. Now get some rest,” Levi ordered before entering the castle and walking away.

Eren smiled and stretched a bit before walking back up to Gryffindor Tower. He slipped inside and immediately headed for the boy’s dormitories. He really needed a shower after spending two hours on the pitch. Plus, his muscles were sore and he felt exhausted.

“Eren!” He groaned softly and turned at the door.

“What is it, Mikasa?”

“That was a long walk.”

“Yeah, so?”

“You never stay out that long. Where were you?”

“What’s your deal?” he snapped. “I’m back before curfew, so don’t lecture me.”

“You were out longer than usual. Did you get in trouble? Did you get into another fight with Jean? Were you—“

“Damn it, shut up!” Eren snapped, clenching his fists. “Just stop it! I’m seventeen! I can handle myself you know! I don’t need you hounding me all the time!”

“Eren, I was just trying to help. I get worried and—“

“Well, stop!” The brunette groaned and rubbed his temples. “I’m going to shower. I’ll see you in the morning.” He then turned and went into the dorm, slamming the door in her face. He loved Mikasa dearly, but he hated when she started acting like his mother. He didn’t need or want her protection.


	5. Chapter 5

September flew by quickly. The seventh years all had more homework than they were used to since it was their N.E.W.T. year. Eren found himself staying up later than he normally did on his homework thanks to his training sessions with Levi during the week. He tried to get as much done as he could during the day in the library, but he still hadn’t told Mikasa about his Seeker training yet and he had to at least attempt to act like normal around her. The two of them had made up quickly, as they always did, but the extra work had even Mikasa busy, so the time they got to talk was limited anyway.

Eren had told Armin about Levi’s training sessions and the blonde was glad to see his best friend finally going out hard for a position he really wanted more than anything. Sure, Eren was a good Beater, but Armin knew that he’d be much happier for at least trying for Seeker. He’d even started counting down the days till the Gryffindor tryouts as extra motivation for the green-eyed boy.

October 1st rolled around and Eren paced around the changing rooms, biting his lip nervously and wringing his hands. He was going out for both positions this year, knowing he’d keep Beater if he didn’t get Seeker. But he hadn’t realized until right now just how much he wanted the Seeker position. He wanted it badly and he was worried he’d be crushed if he didn’t get the spot.

“Eren, relax,” Mikasa said from the other side of the room. “You’ll do fine.  I’m just glad you’re sticking it out there and going for it.”

“I thought it was worth a shot,” he said and shrugged. “I’m just really nervous.”

“That’s alright. I am too,” she said.

“You have a better chance of getting it than me.”

“You still have a guaranteed back up.” She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. “Eren, you’ll do great. I have faith in you.”

Eren smiled at her and nodded. “Thanks, Mika,” he said. “You’ll do great too. Chaser’s are first, right?”

Mikasa nodded once and adjusted her scarf a bit. “Yeah. We should go. They’ll be starting soon.”

The pair left the changing room, broomsticks in hand. They headed for their respected areas since the students were arranged by which positions they were going for and in what order. The order was Chasers, Keepers, Beaters, and Seekers last. Eren stood slightly between the Seeker section and the Beater section. There was only one other student going out for Seeker, a third year that came from a Quidditch family. Eren swallowed nervously and looked up at the stands where Armin was seated. He was slightly surprised to see Levi there as well and waved a bit up at them. Armin grinned and gave Eren a thumb’s up while Levi just sat there. He may have nodded his head, but Eren wasn’t entirely sure about that.

When the Chaser tryouts began, Eren watched from the sidelines. Mikasa performed splendidly and Eren grinned. She’d make the team for sure. Her speed outmatched all the others and her shooting skills were on point. She was even chosen to be one of the shooters for the Keeper tryouts, which went by quickly. During the Beater tryouts, Eren excelled as usual, not missing a single Bludger that was thrown at him. And then it was time for the Seeker tryouts. Eren remained in the air and tossed his bat to his teammate that was heading down. The other Seeker and the team captain rose up to Eren, the Snitch in the captain’s hand.

“Alright, you two, this is how this is going to work,” the captain began. “I’m going to release the Snitch and then on my whistle, you both will start chasing it. The person he catches it first will be the new Seeker, understood.” Both boys nodded and Eren’s grip on his broom tightened a bit. “Good. Let’s begin.” The Snitch was released and Eren kept a firm eye on it, trying not to lose the small ball in the sun. The whistle blew and they were off.

Eren took an easy lead, his Firebolt being top of the line. The third year kept a close tail on him though and soon they were shoulder to shoulder, bouncing off each other as they zoomed forward. The Snitch turned rapidly and Eren had to hit the brakes a bit to not lose control, allowing his competitor to zip ahead. The ball then cut up and Eren hit the throttle, firing straight up. He accidentally overshot and was flying over the snitch. The third year was directly below him and was reaching out, almost close enough to snatch the ball, and Eren’s dreams, away.

“No! There is no way in hell I’m letting you catch that!” he yelled. He rolled upside down and hung upside down like he had that first night.

“Eren, be careful!” Mikasa yelled from the ground, but he ignored her stretching his hand out. It was barely out of his reach. He let his legs slip down a bit, holding on by his ankles. He stretched his fingers out, he could feel the beat of its wings out his fingertips, and then….

His fingers wrapped around the golden ball. He grinned wildly and struggled to flip upright, but he managed. A loud whoop left his lips and he held the ball up in his fist. “Yes!” he cried and was nearly tackled of his broom by Mikasa, who’d flown up to hug him tightly.

The roster was posted in the common room a few hours later. Mikasa Ackerman was listed as a Chaser and Eren Jaeger was marked as Gryffindor’s Seeker for the year.

* * *

“You did good yesterday, brat,” Levi said, looking at Eren across the table in the Three Broomsticks.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. “I couldn’t have done it without your help though.”

“Tch, you could have,” the elder replied, sipping at his tea. “Speaking of, what did I tell you about those sharp turns?”

Eren cringed a bit. “Not to brake so hard.”

“Not to brake _at_ _all_ ,” Levi said. “Throttle to the side and then drift through the turn. It’s faster and you don’t risk throwing yourself off the broom.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. It’s your neck that’ll end up in the Hospital Wing, not mine.”

Eren blushed slightly and took a long sip of his Butterbeer. “I wasn’t expecting you to come.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at that. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, Mikasa said she didn’t tell you she was trying out for it, so…”

“I came to see my brat try. Got a problem with it?”

“N-No, not at all!” Eren defended quickly. “I just wasn’t going to get my hopes up that you would.”

Levi smirked slightly over his mug. “So you did want me there,” he mused and Eren blushed more.

“I-I didn’t say that!”

“It was implied. Just like it was implied last week that you’re gayer than unicorn shit.”

“Wh-What!?”

Levi smirked. “You heard me, brat.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

Levi rolled his eyes and sat his mug down. “Let’s see here….You staring at my crotch during training, staring at my ass during training, you’ve been blushing when I praise you recently, and what else….Oh right, staring at my crotch and ass during training _and_ in class.” The man smirked and laced his fingers together before resting his chin on them. “You’re gay for me.”

“I-I am not! N-No homo!”

“You don’t fool me Jaeger,” Levi said. “I know homo when I see it. And you are completely homo.”

Eren blushed and looked away. It was true that recently he’d begun to have less than clean thoughts about his Charms professor, some of which involved the cleaning products Levi used to keep the classroom and his broom sparkling, but he wasn’t going to flat out say it. Levi was his teacher and Mikasa’s cousin. She’d murder him if she found out Eren was crushing hard on him. “Whatever,” he muttered, taking a large gulp of his Butterbeer. “Can we talk about something else?”

“We can talk about your essay that’s due Monday.”

“How about no?”

Levi snorted. “Well, then what?”

“Quidditch?”

“Will get us right back into our argument about whether you’re homo or not, which you are, so next topic.”

“Uh….” Eren scratched his head, trying to think of something decent. “Tell me about your school days.”

Levi scoffed. “No.”

“Oh come on, why not?” Eren asked. “You already know a lot about me! I don’t know that much about you.”

Levi huffed softly. “Another time,” he said and got up. “I need to go chaperone by Honeydukes soon. The third years and your friends that have bottomless pits for stomachs will destroy the place if we don’t keep an eye on them.”

Eren sighed softly. “Fine,” he said. “Connie and Sasha aren’t that bad, you know.”

“Tell that to the wrappers they leave in my classroom.”


	6. Chapter 6

The next chance Eren had to talk to Levi was during one of their training sessions, which Levi wanted to keep up until Eren had a good handle on the position.  They were hovering over the pitch, taking turns catching Levi’s Snitch, which he’d charmed to fly slower than usual.

“So….” Eren began and Levi glanced at him.

“So what?” he asked, letting the Snitch go from his fist.

“So, are you going to tell me about your past now?”

Levi sighed. “You really are a curious brat, aren’t you?”

Eren shrugged. “I just want to know more about you,” he admitted. “I mean, yeah, you’re my teacher and all, but out here where class doesn’t matter, I’d like to think we’re friends.”

“I don’t exactly have friends, Eren.”

“Why not?”

“Relationships aren’t my forte,” Levi said, watching Eren catch the Snitch when it entered his field of vision. “I have a few friends, but I don’t talk to them much about my personal life. Why should I you?”

Eren bit his lip at that. “Well…..maybe so you have one person that knows your secrets?” he offered and Levi looked at him skeptically. “Just so you have someone to confide in when stuff starts bothering you.”

“And why you instead of Erwin or Hanji?”

“Well, because….Wait, you’re friends with Professor Zoe?”

“Yes. Get back on topic.”

“Right.” Eren bit his lip. “Maybe because I know what it’s like to feel alone, I guess.

“No one said I felt alone,” Levi retorted. “And I doubt you do either.”

“It’s true! Growing up, I only really had Armin to talk to,” Eren explained. “And I was a little shit—“

“Big shocker there.”

“Rude. _Anyway_ , I wasn’t the best kid, so I fought a lot with my mom growing up. And even though my dad’s a great father, he’s a doctor, so he works a lot during the day or he sleeps because he had night shift. I didn’t really get to spend a lot of time with him. When Mikasa moved in, I had someone else around at least, but even now there are some things I don’t tell her.”

“Like what?”

“Like this thing between us.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know! Maybe because I like having a friendship that she’s not technically a part of,” Eren admitted. “I know you two are cousins, but it’s nice to spend time with someone and her not be around. Mikasa’s great but she’s…”

“Overprotective?”

“Yeah. She do that to you too?”

Levi shrugged and caught the Snitch between his forefinger and thumb. “No, but I know how she is. How she acts around you and Armin. She’d do anything for the two of you.”

“Yeah, she would. Though sometimes she goes a bit overboard.”

“Can’t be helped,” Levi said. “And you’re other friends?”

“The only other one that I’d feel comfortable talking about the sensitive stuff with his Marco,” Eren admitted. “Connie and Sasha can’t keep their mouths shut for anything. Ymir and Historia are always too busy with each other to even try to talk to about stuff. Reiner’s great for advice, but he’s hard to get alone outside of class because he’s normally with Berthold and Annie. And there’s no way in hell I’m telling Horseface anything.”

“Horseface?”

“Jean.”

“You mean the two-toned Slytherin guy?”

Eren snickered and nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. You noticed he dyes it too?”

“Kind of hard to miss,” Levi muttered. He sighed a bit and glanced up at the sky. “I suppose I can tell you some things. But don’t push it, got it?”

Eren nodded quickly. “I won’t, I swear.”

Levi nodded and glanced over at the teenager. “Well, I grew up in Northern England with my parents. My mother was a witch from Paris and my Father was originally from Scotland, but moved to England after he left Hogwarts. They met when she was on a trip in London. They got married after a year and had me two years later. We lived in a secluded village. Quiet little town. Not many kids my age, but I wasn’t social. Still aren’t. I actually didn’t know who Harry Potter was until I started at Hogwarts and there were rumors all over the train that the Boy Who Lived was going to be attending the school.”

“You were the same year as Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom?” Eren asked.

“Yes, keep up. I wasn’t close with either one of them to begin with and my family moved after my second year. I started at Durmstrang that fall since Hogwarts was too far away for me to stay there and my uncle had Mikasa to raise. They didn’t need the added stress of a teenager. I started playing Quidditch at Durmstrang and when I graduated, I moved back to England since I wanted to play pro and there’s more teams here. Signed on with the Scouts my rookie year and the rest is history.”

Eren nodded. “Can…Can I ask you a question?” he asked and Levi glanced at him.

“What?”

“Why did you want to play Seeker?”

Levi huffed softly and snagged the Snitch again. “Too short for Keeper,” he muttered and pocketed the gold ball. He glared when Eren snickered. “What are you laughing about, you little shit?”

“S-Sorry, I just never thought I’d hear you say that,” Eren said.

“Tch. I’m aware of my height, brat. Besides, it has its benefits.”

“Like…”

“I can’t hit my head on door frames like you seem to do,” the man retorted and Eren blushed.

“H-Hey, I’m not as bad as Berthold. He’s a giant.”

“He’s shorter than Mike.”

“Who?”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “Mike Zacharius? The Scouts’ Keeper?”

Eren blushed a bit more. “Oh. Right.”

“Damn, you’re terrible about player names. I thought the Scouts were your favorite team?”

“They are! You are, I mean,” he said. “But I’ve never actually been to a Scouts game before and Muggle radios don’t pick up wizard stations very well. I only catch it every once in a while. The only names I can remember are yours and Captain Erwin’s. Occasionally I can remember the Beaters. Um….they’re Eld and….Garrett?”

“Gunther, but that was a good attempt,” Levi said. “Can’t blame you too much then for not knowing the others. Like I said, Mike is our Keeper and you know Erwin’s a chaser. The other Chasers are Nanaba and Dita Ness.”

“Got it. I’ll try my best to remember them,” Eren said.

“Good, I’ll quiz you later.”

“Hey, no fair!”

Levi let out a soft chuckle, finding himself relaxing with this kid. Maybe he was becoming friends with him. Eren could be a smartass at times, if the way he’d talk back to his friends was any indication, yet he had a good heart and Levi had yet to see his bad side. “Life’s not fair, Eren. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. Don’t need to hear it again,” he muttered.

Levi rolled his eyes a bit and started lowering his broom. “We should be getting back,” he said. “It’s nearing curfew.”

Eren nodded. “Right,” he said and started down.


	7. Chapter 7

“Merry Christmas, Levi!”

Levi scowled and took the poorly wrapped package from Eren. “What is this shit?” he asked, shaking it a bit.

“You’re Christmas present,” Eren chirped, then added. “And birthday present. I would’ve gotten two, but Mikasa didn’t tell me your birthday was on Christmas til….well, yesterday.”

“Why not? I thought you told her you were spending time with me outside of class?”

“She doesn’t approve.”

“Of course not.” Levi sighed and set the gift on his desk. “Are you going home for Christmas?”

“No. Mikasa wanted to stay here so you wouldn’t be alone for Christmas, so I decided to stay too since the Tower will be empty. Plus, my parents are going to Germany to spend Christmas with my grandparents and they left yesterday since they prefer to travel by train rather than by a plane.”

“They couldn’t wait on you?”

“My grandparents are a couple of sticks in the mud,” Eren said with a shrug. “Plus, the last time I was there, my parents told them that they had a magical kid and they freaked out. It’s best if I don’t go.”

“What are they? Religious nuts or some shit like that?”

“No, they’re gypsies.”

Levi blinked at his completely straight face and then glared when Eren busted out laughing. “You’re an ass, you know that?”

“S-Sorry!” Eren said and wiped a tear from his eye. “They aren’t gypsies. They are Catholic though and they were raised to believe magic was the work of the devil, so they think I’m some kind of demon’s spawn. Or that I’m possessed.”

“There are magical popes.”

“I know that, but they won’t listen to me.”

“Figures,” Levi said and flicked his wand, cleaning up a spilt flower pot that a cat had knocked over. “Stupid felines always make a mess. How’d your first game go by the way?”

“Good. We won 200 to 100.”

“Close match then.”

“Yeah, I guess.  It was just worth seeing Jean’s face after I won it. He looked like he’d pissed himself.”

“Do you like Seeker still?”

Eren grinned and nodded. “I love it,” he said. “Thank you for training with me. It helps a lot.”

“Tch. Don’t mention it. I actually like mentoring someone more than I thought I would.”

“I mean it though. I probably would still be playing Beater if it wasn’t for you.”

Levi glanced up and blinked, his eyes slightly wider than normal. “Eren, don’t give me so much credit.”

“I can’t help it. I owe you a lot.”

Levi huffed softly and looked away again, a soft blush on his cheeks. “Tch. You owe me nothing, you shitty brat,” he muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Eren blinked and blushed a bit at Levi’s expression. He had to admit, the elder man looked rather attractive like that, with his normal stoic walls down for a change. Not that he wasn’t attractive to begin with. Eren made himself blush more at that. He hadn’t thought about Levi like that in a while. He’d thought he’d gotten over his attraction to him.

“Eren!”

Eren jumped and looked at Levi, who was snapping his fingers in the teenager’s face. “What? Sorry, I zoned out.”

“Yeah, I know that, idiot,” Levi said. “I said, I got you something too.” He dug in his desk before handing Eren a neatly wrapped box, complete with a ribbon bow on top.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“You going to open it or stare at my wrapping job?”

“You going to open yours?”

Levi snorted and picked up the package. “Fine. I was going to wait until the 25th, but if you insist…” He ripped the wrapping off in on smooth motion, Eren really wasn’t a good wrapper, and tossed it in the bin. “Chocolate frogs? What the hell kind of shitty gift is—“

“Just open the box,” Eren said. “I needed something to wrap it in.”

Levi raised a brow and opened the box. His eyes widened a bit and he pulled out the long, fur-lined emerald cloak from the box. The Wings of Freedom were emblazoned on the back, but unlike his short cloak, had his name and number stitched on as well. “Eren, where did you get this?”

“Well, I got the cloak in Hogsmeade a few weeks ago, but I sent it to my mom and she did the embroidery on it,” he said, blushing a bit. “I can’t sew worth shit, with or without magic. And Mikasa said you didn’t have a good winter cloak and I know you probably have a ton of Scouts stuff, but I didn’t know what else would be good and I—“

“Thank you, Eren,” Levi said, cracking a small smile. “It’s wonderful.”

Eren blushed more and smiled at his professor and mentor. “I’m glad you like it,” he said.

Levi nodded and gestured for Eren to open his. The green-eyed wizard tugged the paper off, dropping it on the floor. He ignored the annoyed glare he could feel Levi giving him and pulled the lid off the box. His eyes widened and he gently lifted Levi’s Snitch out of the box. “Levi….”

“That was the Snitch I caught in my first pro game,” he explained with a flick of his wand, disposing of Eren’s trash for him. “Since you’ve been doing so well in training, and with your classes, I thought you were deserving of passing it on to.”

Eren gaped and looked up at her. “Levi, I can’t take this,” he said. “It’s your first Snitch and—“

“And I want you to have it,” the elder retorted. “I can get another Snitch at some point and you can’t keep a school one, so have that one.”

The boy nodded quickly tears filling his eyes. “Thank you!” he said and hugged Levi tightly.

“Damn it, get off! You’re going to get you disgusting snot all over me, you shitty brat!”


	8. Chapter 8

Eren sat alone in the Great Hall late on the night of Christmas Eve. Mikasa had gone to bed earlier and all of their other friends had left, so he was taking the opportunity to study for his Ancient Runes and Potions exams he had coming up right after break ended. He picked up a cookie off the tray next to him and bit off half of it in one go, Levi’s…..no, _his_ Snitch hovering beside his ear. The thing would occasionally zip around the empty hall, but for the last half hour had taken to just buzzing around Eren’s head. If Eren didn’t know better, he’d say the thing had a consciousness.

He sighed softly and flipped over a page in his Runes book, comparing the figures in the text to the ones on his notes. Some of them looked too similar for comfort and he had a habit of screwing up which one was which. He scowled and unrolled a clean sheet of parchment to recreate some of his notes with the correct runes when he heard the door to the hall open. Green eyes flicked up before widening at the sight of Levi in the doorway.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same thing, Jaeger,” Levi said and walked to sit across the table from Eren. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? You know Santa doesn’t visit little boys who don’t go to sleep.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up. I stopped believe in Santa years ago.”

Levi let out a soft chuckle at that. “Fine. But, in all honesty, why are you down here doing school work and stuffing your face instead of sleeping? It’s break.”

“Hey, don’t knock the cookies. They’re fantastic!” Eren defended and offered Levi one, who just shrugged and took it from him. “And I know it’s break, but I have tests when we start back that I have to pass. What about you? Why are you up this late?”

Levi shrugged and took a bit of cookie. “Insomniac,” he said after he’d swallowed. “I never get more than a couple hours of sleep a night.”

Eren frowned at that. “Doesn’t that bother you?” he asked, eyes worried for the older man.

“Not really. I’m used to it by now.”

“Oh.”

The pair sat in silence for a minute and Eren started copying another rune down. Levi looked him over and raised a brow. “What the hell are you studying, anyway?”

“Ancient Runes.”

“Seriously?”

Eren glanced up and his nose wrinkled. “What?”

“You’re taking Ancient Runes?”

“Yeah, so?” Eren set his quill down and crossed his arms. “I like it.”

“I just never pegged you to have the patience for it.”

“Hey!”

“Oi, don’t get defensive,” Levi snapped. “You barely pay attention in my class as it is and I know you’ve gotten in detention a couple times this term for your short temper. Which, by the way, there was still a smudge on the trophy case when you cleaned them for your last one.”

“Don’t lecture me on proper cleaning technique. That stain’s been there for years,” Eren muttered. “Look, I like runes and languages and stuff like that. I wouldn’t care to be tri-lingual if I didn’t.”

Levi’s eyes widened at that, making Eren notice for the first time the deep cerulean color that his irises were. How’d he miss that? “You’re tri-lingual? What other two do you speak?”

“German and Japanese,” he said, pride showing through. “I already told you my grandparents are from Germany, so I grew up speaking that one. I learned Japanese after Mikasa moved in with us. Even though her parents didn’t speak it, we both wanted to learn, but she quit early on while I stuck with it.”

Levi blinked at him, actually stunned at that. He’d seen Eren’s fierce determination during their training sessions, but he never would’ve guessed that the kid would actually like speaking other languages. “Damn,” he muttered. “So what are you planning on doing after graduation with that kind of skill?”

Eren shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really know,” he admitted. “I’ve thought about a couple things, but I don’t have a definite choice set yet.”

“Well, what are you thinking about doing?”

“Professional Quidditch is up there,” Eren said, ignoring Levi’s eye roll. “I’ve thought about Auror too, but Armin says that my temper could get me in more trouble that it’d be worth.”

“He’s got a point.”

“Hey, shut up!” Levi snickered and gestured for Eren to continue. “Anyway, I’ve also thought about travelling for a while before picking a career too, but I don’t think my parents could afford for me too. Or I might do something in the Muggle world. My dad and I talked about med school a lot when I was little.”

“You’d be a shitty doctor,” Levi said. “No offense, but you have terrible bed side manners.”

“How the hell do you know!?”

“One, temper,” he retorted. “And two, you were laughing your ass off when Springer got jinxed a few weeks ago.”

“Hey, that was funny!”

“It was, but doctors and healers hold that in. You wouldn’t be able to.”

“Yeah, you got a point there,” Eren said and rested his chin in his head. “Doesn’t matter. I still don’t have any idea what I want to do.”

“You’ve got spring term to figure it out,” Levi said and Eren groaned.

“Yeah, a whole six months,” he muttered. “Not a lot of time.”

“Or it’s plenty of time,” Levi said. “If you talk to Petra, she’d help you out.”

“I don’t like to bother Professor Ral that much.”

“And why not? She’s your Head of House.”

“I also walked in on her and Professor Bossard once last year,” Eren said and shuddered. “Not pleasant.”

“Please tell me they at least cleaned the desk off.”

“LEVI!” Eren flushed hard and groaned. “I didn’t stick around for that!”

“Okay, fine, I won’t ask again,” the professor muttered. “But still, they really should us bleach when they do that on—“

_“Levi!”_

“Fine, I’ll stop. You’re seventeen, brat. Isn’t being a bunch of perverts what you lot do on a daily basis?”

“No thank you,” Eren muttered. “Constantly hearing Ymir go on about her and Historia’s sex life is more than enough to turn me off being perverted.”

“Really, because you seem completely like the top who’d beg to be taken like a whore,” Levi stated, his face completely stoic.

Eren choked on his cookie and coughed a bit. “E-Excuse me?”

Levi blinked and looked away. “Nothing,” he muttered, but his cheeks were tinted a light pink color.

Eren blushed and immediately buried his nose in his textbook, ignoring the Snitch bopping itself against the side of his head. After a while, it grew irritating and he groaned, trying to wave it off. “Knock it off,” he muttered at it and huffed. “Did it do this to you all the time?” he asked Levi as he batted at the Snitch.

“Huh? Oh, hitting you in the head? Yeah, it does that when it gets bored,” he said and Eren blinked.

“I don’t think they can get bored, Levi?”

“They can when they aren’t being caught like their meant to. Just charm it to stop and it’ll lie on the table for a while if it’s bugging you if you don’t want to put it away.”

“How do I do that?”

Levi snorted. “We just did this in class, Eren. Two weeks ago, actually.”

Eren bit his lip. “I think I might have fell asleep that day,” he admitted and Levi scowled.

“Tch. Figures,” he muttered. “The spell’s incantation is _nocturnus_. Any object that is moving or performing a function that requires more than just sitting there will go into a state of rest for a while. Now do it.”

Eren blinked and sighed. “You won’t let me just catch it now, will you?”

“No. Perform the spell.”

“Ugh, fine.” Eren picked his wand up and pointed it at the Snitch. “Nocturnus!” The Snitch froze in midair and folded its wings before dropping to the floor with a thud.

“You could’ve done it less forcefully and grabbed it before it hit the floor, but you can do the basic principle,” Levi said as Eren bent down to pick the golden ball up.

“Whatever. Happy?” the teenager muttered and set the ball on the table. Levi gave a nod.

“I suppose. Next time pay attention in class or I’m giving you extra homework.”

“Asshole.”

Levi rolled his eyes at that and glanced up at the starry ceiling above them. “You know, that’s one thing that I didn’t like about Durmstrang,” he said after a minute.

Eren cocked his head to the side. “What? The ceiling?”

“The fact that magic didn’t permeate the air the way it does here,” Levi explained. “The ceilings were just plain stone. There weren’t any ghosts or creatures that weren’t part of classes. Durmstrang’s just dead compared to Hogwarts. That’s part of why it gets a reputation for being a dark magic school.”

“A magic school doesn’t represent magic? I wouldn’t want to be a muggleborn there,” Eren said and looked up at the enchanted ceiling. Levi didn’t respond, but he felt no real reason to. He agreed with Eren, though. Durmstrang wasn’t the way to introduce any one to magic. Hogwarts was best for that.

They sat that way for a long time, just staring at the sky together. Eren would point out constellations that he knew from Astronomy and the Muggle world and Levi showed him the ones that were only known to wizards, but weren’t as common to be taught. Eventually, the castle’s clock struck twelve and Levi looked over at the kid beside him, smiling slightly.

“Eren,” he said, catching the boy’s attention.

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas, you brat.”

Eren cracked a smile and nodded. “Happy Birthday, professor.”


End file.
